Gilt Bronze Andirons Decorated With Chimeras, Lions Attribué Charles Cressent

Pair of gilt bronze andirons decorated with chimeras, lions,  of gilt bronze andirons decorated with chimeras, lions, crosspieces and leafy scrolls. Attributed to Charles Cressent. Louis XV period. (Without irons). Height: 39 cm - Width: 30 cm The model of "lion and dragon firedogs" dates from the years 1725-1735 Cressent reuses the motif of the lion emerging from clouds that he had created for the bases of two cartels (one preserved at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, the other in New York, private collection), for which he had been inspired by the figures of a springing lion composed by Vassé around 1712-1714 for the fireplace in the bedroom of the Queen of Spain at the Alcazar Palace in Madrid. In the catalogue of the posthumous sale of Abraham Michelet d'Ennery, equerry-secretary of the king and lover of antiques in December 1786, they are described under no. 251: "A fire composed of a cartel from which emerges a lion of which we see only the head and the two front paws; above a flying dragon that seems to intimidate the lion and hold it back in its lair. This beautiful fire is made of gilded bronze with ground gold.